Five and One
by SkyGem
Summary: Five times the owner of Tsuna's favourite book shop misunderstood his relationship with his Family, and one time he finally explained things to her. NO PAIRINGS. Six-shot.
1. Girlfriend

In a small, out of the way corner of Italy, there existed a cozy little bookstore.

It wasn't an extremely popular bookstore by any means.

But at the same time, it wasn't unpopular.

It had its share of regular customers - a rather impressive number actually, considering it was an independant bookstore, and had only been open for about four years.

The owner and manager, a young woman in her mid-twenties named Uenko Naoko, was rather proud of her little shop.

It had a rather nice atmosphere, and most of the customers that came in were really very pleasant.

There was one customer in particular that she rather enjoyed seeing, although she wouldn't admit it to herself.

He had first come in one month ago, and when she had seen him, she'd been completely floored for three reasons.

One: he was Japanese. There was an actual, real, live Japanese person. In her store. In Italy. It had sent a pang of homesickness through her for the fraction of a second.

Two: he was absolutely gorgeous. With a soft, sweet face, and fluffy brown hair and eyes the colour of willow bark. He was dressed quite well too, in black dress pants and a collar shirt with the sleeves rolled up past his elbows. Simple, yet elegant, and obviously tailor made.

Three: the girl he was with was just as gorgeous as he was, impossible as it may seem. With silky purple hair tied up in a ponytail, and pretty, matching purple eyes, one of which was covered by an eye patch.

Naoko was tending to a customer when the two came in, but she did watch them curiously out of the corner of her eye as they stood, talking in hushed voices.

By the time Naoko turned to greet them, the gogeous young man had wandered off, and only his girlfriend remained at the register.

Smiling shyly at the girl, feeling slightly intimidated by her calm, confident beauty, Naoko said, "Welcome to Hareta books! Is there anything I can help you with?"

Returning the smile, the customer said, "Yes, my companion and I were wondering if you had any particular rules against reading without buying?"

"Not at all!" replied Naoko quickly, gesturing to the comfortable reading nooks and chairs and sofas set up around the store. "That's why these are all around! You may read as much as you like until closing time! Although it _would_ be rather nice if you were to purchase at least one book."

"Thank you very much!" replied the woman with a deep bow that flustered Naoko more than it should have, to be honest. In her past few years in Italy however, she had grown unused to Japanese customs.

After assuring the customer that it was no problem at all, Naoko then watched her approach her companion, who had just re-emerged from among the bookshelves with a large stack of books in his arms.

His girlfriend ran to help him carry the books to a nearby table, and for the next two hours, they just sat and read.

Or rather, the young man read - completely engrossed in the books.

His girlfriend took out a laptop right away and began typing away at the keyboard with a frown.

After making sure she wouldn't be bothering anyone, she also took out her phone and began talking to the erson o the other side in rapid-fire Russian.

And as Naoko watched the two, she had to wonder just how two such perfect people had found each other.

The young man was obviously some kind of rich business man, whereas his girlfriend also seemed to have quite a few connections, considering she had spoken to three different people in the space of ten minutes, all of who had supposedly spoken in three different languages.

They were the world's most perfect power couple.


	2. Cheating

The second time the rich Japanese man came into Naoko's store, she was speechless.

Naoko was beginning to suspect that this would become a regular thing.

This time, the young man was dressed a lot more casually than before, with a thick, grey, cable-knit sweater, with a collared shirt underneath, and skinny jeans.

He looked magnificent, but it was really his companion that caught Naoko's attention.

He was a classic Italian beauty, with high cheekbones and beautiful, sharp, blue eyes set in a long, diamond shaped face. His long blue hair was tied in a neat ponytail, with a bit at the back left short and style so that it stood up in a way vaguely resembling a pineapple.

He was wearing a dark green pea coat over a white collared shirt and a dark grey waistcoat.

From what little of his pants Naoko could see, she saw that he was clad in a pair of expensive black dress pants.

But the crowning glory of his outfit, the one thing that probably turned heads as he walked down the street were his thigh high boots, worn on legs that seemed to stretch for miles. They were lace-up boots with straps and buckles that gave them a vaguely steampunk look.

His heels clacked as he walked, and upon noticing Naoko's gaze on him, a corner of his lips pulled into a sly smile.

"-can stand wearing those," the brunet was saying just as they walked in. "Doesn't the sound get annoying after a while?"

"Of course not, Tsunayoshi dear," replied the taller male, seeming shocked that his friend would even suggest such a thing. "The clicking of the heels makes one feel all the more powerful."

The smaller brunet, now identified as Tsunayoshi, looked unconvinced.

"Would you like to experience it for yourself, then?" asked the taller male, leaning closer to Tsunayoshi with a leering smile.

His friend immediately leaned away, chuckling awkwardly.

"No, no, that's alright, Mukuro-kun. I'll take your word for it," replied Tsunayoshi quickly.

For a short second, the taller man, Mukuro, looked extremely disappointed, before the airy smile returned to his features.

"That is quite alright, Tsunayoshi-kun," he said, and with one hand on Tsunayoshi's back and the other on his elbow, Mukuro steered his friend towards the books. "You will open your eyes to the beauty of these boots on the day I finally take possession of your body."

Naoko couldn't help the startled "eep!" that escaped her when she heard those last words.

Before she could try and decode what Mukuro had meant, there came a frustrated groan from Tsunayoshi.

"I don't want to wear your damn hooker boots!" he half-shouted.

Immediately, there was a loud, offended gasp from Mukuro, and even though she couldn't see him, Naoko could just picture the look of utter shock and betrayal that had probably just crossed his face.

"They are _not_ hooker boots!" exclaimed Mukuro in a pouty voice, accompanied by the stomp of a foot and a click from one of his heels.

The silence that followed was deathly, and continued for ten whole seconds before Tsunayoshi burst into hysterical laughter, emerging from amongst the books with one book in hand, and clutching at his stomach, he was laughing so hard.

Mukuro followed after him, pouting like a displeased child and red as a tomato.

"You're a hooker, Mukuro," wheezed Tsunayoshi through his laughter.

And Naoko couldn't help but gape.

Tsunayoshi was cheating on his girlfriend.

With a hooker.

...With a _**male**_ hooker.

* * *

SkyGem: Hehe, I quite enjoyed this chapter. It was so much fun to write! Also, yes, tyl!Mukuro totally wears hooker boots and no one can convince me otherwise. Credit and kudos go to the lovely Bleach-ed-Na-tsu, who was the one that told me about Mukuro's hooker boots the other day over lunch! This chapter's for you, sweetie ;) Anyways guys, please do leave a review and let me know what you thought!


	3. A Mile Long

The weather had been absolutely horrid all day long.

Clouds completely blanketed the sky, and big, fat, snowflakes fell lazily to the ground, muffling the sounds of the city until all that could be heard were the muted sounds of people trying to go about their daily lives.

Luckily for Naoko, her own little store was warm and cozy, if not boring as hell.

The snow had kept most customers away, except a few students here and there, looking for a quiet place to study, or others who were off from work and were looking for a way to pass the time.

At the moment, the store was empty, and Naoko was very close to dozing off before the bell over her door gave a bright little jingle, and a customer stepped in with a blast of cold air and a few stray snowflakes.

Blinking out of her daze, she turned to look at the person who had entered – a young woman bundled up tightly against the cold; her large, pretty brown eyes the only visible part of her.

As the door closed behind her, she reached up her gloved hands pulled her scarf down and took in a deep breath.

Pulling off her hat to reveal a head of short, messy, strawberry blond locks, she looked around the shop, taking in her surroundings with a calculating expression.

Naoko felt suddenly self-conscious.

The girl was absolutely gorgeous, and without even knowing why, Naoko was really hoping her humble establishment met the her standards.

The customer must have decided she liked the store, because she walked up to the counter with a sweet smile on her face.

Naoko wasn't sure why it took her so long, maybe it was the lazy mood of this wintry day, or maybe it was the customer's stunning beauty, but she only noticed that the customer was Japanese when she was about two feet from the counter.

"Good afternoon," she greeted in Japanese, bowing slightly, and Naoko stuttered and tripped over her own words for a few seconds before she was able to reply.

Not seeming fazed by Naoko's reaction, the girl gestured back towards the door.

"You have a lovely store," she complimented. "It's no wonder Tsuna-kun likes it so much."

"Tsuna-kun?" asked Naoko, here eyes widening. That guy again. Just how many beautiful people did he know? Not that Naoko minded. His visits were always interesting, to say the least. And he didn't seem like such a bad guy...if you ignored the whole two-timing thing.

"I'm not sure if you'll remember him," replied the girl, seeming to misunderstand Naoko's reaction. "I'm sure you get lots of customers. He's a bit taller than me, skinny, has messy brown hair?"

"I remember him," replied Naoko with a small laugh. "I don't get many Japanese customers in here."

She gave the customer a pointed look, and got a slight blush in reply.

"And even if I did...he does rather leave an impression."

A peal of laughter escaped the other girl.

"I know what you mean! I don't know which leaves more of an impression, his hair, his money, or the mile-long line of people that follows him everywhere like lovesick puppies."

Naoko snorted loudly, trying and failing to hold back the amused giggles.

And it didn't help that, at that exact moment, the door opened, and Tsunayoshi himself appeared, wearing nothing more than a dark blue peacoat to protect him from the cold.

After him walked in three young men, dressed similarly, walking in a neat little line like ducklings following their mother.

Naoko and the girl at the counter shared a look that sent them both back into fits of hysterical laughter.

Tsunayoshi's eyes narrowed slightly, as if he knew he was the subject of their amusement, but the people behind him were looking on in confusion.

"What's so funny, Kyoko?" asked the tallest of them, his snowy white hair mingling with the flakes falling from the sky.

"It's nothing, onii-chan," she replied, going up to greet the men with kisses on their cheeks.

Tsunayoshi watched Naoko and the girl, Kyoko, suspiciously for a few minutes more, before stepping forward and reaching out his hand which was, as always, adorned with three strange rings.

Kyoko laid her hand in his, and Naoko couldn't help but notice the golden wedding band glistening on her ring finger.

There was a horrified suspicion growing inside her and she really didn't hope it was right.

Tsunayoshi turned to two of the men who were following him and tilted his head in the direction of some sofas.

The two followed his unspoken command, laying down their stuff and taking out laptops.

"You come help us, onii-san," said Tsunayoshi to the tall, white haired guy who was Kyoko's brother as he tugged Kyoko towards the towering bookshelves.

Allowing herself to be tugged along, Kyoko turned to throw a conspiratorial wink Naoko's way, still giggling about their earlier conversation.

But Naoko couldn't bring herself to laugh as she watched the sweet girl she had just befriended joke and laugh with her cheating husband.

* * *

SkyGem: Lol. Well, this just keeps getting more and more complicated, doesn't it? Sorry guys, I'm sure this is somewhat of a letdown after last chapter but let's be honest, what can top hooker boots, eh? Anyways, please do leave a review letting me know what you thought! Ciao!

P.S. Almost forgot to tell you! Guess who's going to be going to Anime North this weekend! *Cue excited squealing.*


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